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User blog:Jmcdavid/Thoughts on Pokemon Sun and Moon
Okay, I have to say, there are quite a few changes that Sun and Moon made to the core mechanics of Pokemon, as well as some memorable characters, that I quite liked. So with the sequels of Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon set to come out soon, I think I'll go over them. Also, be warned when I go over the characters, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS! For example, Ride Pokemon. I always got frustrated in past games when I had to travel through an area where a whole bunch of hazards were in my path, because it meant I would need to make sure my party had at least one HM slave to help navigate that area. But with Sun and Moon, that is a thing of the past! Now we have the Ride Pager, which can be used to summon Ride Pokemon, who are not in a player's party at all, to help navigate those hazards! So breakable rocks? No more needing a Pokemon to know the HM for Rock Smash, just need the Tauros Charge! Water that needs to be crossed? No more needing a Pokemon to know the HM for Surf, just need either the Lapras Paddle or, if there are breakable rocks on the water, the Sharpedo Jet! Need to return to a town you visited earlier in a hurry? No more needing a Pokemon to know the HM for Fly, just need the Charizard Glide! Large boulders that can be moved in the way? No more needing a Pokemon to know the HM for Strength, just need the Machamp Shove! And even classic items are getting replaced by Ride Pokemon. The Dowsing Machine is a thing of the past, as the Stoutland Search is how hidden items are found now! So yeah, in case you can't tell, I really appreciate the addition of the Ride Pokemon mechanic! XD Next up, is the Z-Moves. I'll admit, at first I wasn't too fond of the mechanic, as they are literally one-use moves. However, I have come to greatly appreciate how helpful they can really be in turning the tide of a tough battle. They look awesome, they pack one heck of a punch, and can help pull off a win when the chips are down, is what I think of them now. Next is Pokemon Refresh. Back in X and Y a feature called Pokemon-Amie was introduced, where you could play with your Pokemon to make them more affectionate towards you. This might have improved how they did in battle, but it wasn't exactly very practical. With Pokemon Refresh, however, it has been retooled. No more mini-games, and besides feeding Beans to your Pokemon, you also can help them after a battle if they're suffering from a status condition, or if they just need grooming. It's much more practical like this, IMO. And then there's the fact that we don't have Pokemon Gyms, but instead Captains who give us Trials. I honestly don't mind this change, as each Trial actually forces us to use our brains. No more of the usual format of just beating the Gym Leader, but instead working on finding a way to get to the Totem Pokemon of the Trial and then defeating it. I think it's a refreshing change, personally. Lastly, there's extra version-exclusive legendaries. One issue that previous games had was that when it came to Legendary Pokemon, you only got one, so you had to be extra-careful about trading it off. But Sun and Moon let players get a Cosmog that can be evolved into that game's version mascot, and there are multiples of the version-exclusive Ultra Beasts. This means that it's a lot less risky to trade one of them off for something else! Now, I'm going to go over the characters of the game. First, Hau, the token rival of the game. He's someone I like because he always tries his best to have fun, but at the same time, as I saw when facing down the bad guys of the game, can have a pretty sharp wit. I'll get to that later. Then there's Lillie, who, while not a Pokemon Trainer, has been growing throughout the adventure, going from a girl who doesn't like to stand out to someone who is willing to take a stand for what she thinks is right. Next, we have the villains. Team Skull is kind of difficult to forget, what with the grunts always doing crazy hand gestures and speaking like rappers! And then there's Plumeria, a high-ranking member who the grunts treat like a big sister, Gladion, who is strong, but has some hidden kindness in him, and Guzma, the boss of the team who does his best to make it clear that he's gonna mess you up! Of course, they're really just a cover for the real villains...the Aether Foundation. On the surface, the Aether Foundation seemed like such a nice group of people, helping out Pokemon. But when I got to meet Lusamine, their president, I had a feeling that something about her wasn't right, as she was talking about how children should just listen to and obey adults. And sure enough, they were really using Team Skull to seem like good guys so they could do their shady business while no one was watching. First, there's Lusamine herself. My first confrontation with that woman, I was shocked to see that she had taken a bunch of Pokemon and basically frozen them alive. And finding out that she was the mother of both Lillie and Gladion, neither of who wanted anything to do with her, really says a lot about her true nature. Then there's Branch Chief Faba...who is kind of funny. The first time meeting him, back before learning the truth about the Aether Foundation, he absolutely refuses to fight Team Skull because, according to him, he is the absolute last line of defense for the Aether Foundation, and it would be a disaster if something were to happen to him. However, he's not that bright, as when I had to storm the Aether Foundation to rescue Lillie and Nebby, the door to where Lusamine was staying was locked. After he tried giving me, Hau, and Gladion (who was helping me out at this point) the runaround for a bit, he tried ganging up on us with a bunch of Aether Foundation employees, only for Hau to ask him if he had the key to where Lusamine was. When he said that of course he did, Hau left him completely flummoxed by pointing out that if he would have just avoided fighting us, he could have completely thwarted us. I got a bit of a giggle out of that moment. XD So yeah, I honestly can't wait to see where some of these characters are in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon when they come out, and hope to see some more new mechanics added to the game! One thing I'm looking forward to is the addition of a Dusk Form for Lycanroc, achieved by evolving a Rockruff with the ability Own Tempo between 5:00 and 5:30 PM. And then there's the fact that Necrozma will fuse with either Solgaleo or Lunala, depending on the version of the game, to become either Dusk Mane Necrozma or Dawn Wings Necrozma, respectively. 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